A ‘One Community’ Agenda

Uniting to Create Great Places for Our Military to Live, Train and Defend our Nation

The COVID-19 pandemic reminded us that when tackling the big issues facing our military, service members and their families, the fence line does not matter. When communities and the military are working as one, we make a difference. While this is not a new idea, there is a tremendous opportunity to shift collaborative efforts to a new level of impact. The Association of Defense Communities believes a “One Community” approach will foster a new level of military-community collaboration to tackle the major issues facing our nation and national defense.

Respond and Recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic

While vaccines bring hope, our defense communities are continuing to face challenges from the pandemic and the distress the last year has caused. We can ensure our military communities remain resilient and begin the long road to recovery by:

• Promoting vaccination efforts in defense communities to ensure we protect those who protect our nation
• Supporting community resilience and economic recovery efforts as a foundation for family resilience by actively collaborating with the Department of Defense
• Capturing best practices in joint community-military pandemic response and recovery; including highlighting the important role of the National Guard

Invest in the People who Make our Military Work

The people who power our nation’s defense are more important than ever. From the cyber expert and ship builder to the military spouse, we need to support and invest in our defense workforce by:

• Supporting community-led initiatives that enhance military spouse employment
• Working collaboratively at the local and national level to understand and plan for the evolving expectations and capabilities of the defense sector workforce
• Promoting joint military-community efforts to ensure military families have access to high quality schools, childcare, spousal employment, and special needs programs
• Investing in defense workforce development initiatives that ensures we have a skilled workforce for the future (e.g. the Defense Manufacturing Communities Support Program)

Invest in Infrastructure that Supports Missions and Families

Our military and our families rely on a complex network of roads, buildings, facilities, utilities, and land – both on and off base – to support critical training, power-projection platforms, and the everyday needs of our families. We need to prioritize investment in our nation’s defense infrastructure by:

• Expanding the Defense Community Infrastructure Program (DCIP) to support both traditional community infrastructure and facilities that enhance quality of life
• Promoting sustained investment in our installations through a stable, robust military construction program that replenishes any redirected funds
• Enhancing the value of public-public (P4) and public-private partnerships (P3) to maximize a full range of tools that leverage resources to improve the efficiency and resilience of defense infrastructure
• Prioritizing DoD’s focus on infrastructure and resilience by reestablishing the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Installations, Energy & Environment
• Strengthening the ongoing collaboration between military and community by supporting and enhancing the role of the new DoD Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC)

Promote Climate Resilience for Installations and Communities

Sea level rise, extreme weather events and other climate related issues are having real impacts on our installations, defense communities, and national security. Responding to this threat must be coordinated across the fence line, regionally and nationally by:

• Creating a coordinating point within OSD to connect DoD and communities on climate change issues, ideally through the OLDCC
• Continuing funding and support for the Military Installation Sustainability (MIS) program
• Embracing programs, including DCIP, which support joint installation-community climate resilience planning and infrastructure projects
• Developing program benchmarks that are clear, quantifiable, objective, and provide a baseline measurement of DCIP and MIS program performance

Address Racism & Inequality in the Communities our Military Calls Home

Today’s military is more diverse than ever, yet many defense communities are some of the least diverse places in the country. This means service members are still asked to live in some communities where they may not feel completely welcomed. DoD and defense communities must work together to address racial inequality at the local level by:

• Listening to those who have experienced the impact of racism and inequality to ground DoD and community efforts in their experiences
• Jointly raising awareness of the issue and a common approach to addressing racial inequality
• Developing information and resources that can be adapted to the different circumstances of each defense community